


A real Christmas

by schrijverr



Series: Christmas Countdown 2019 [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Brotherly Love, Christmas Fluff, Cursed Object, De-Aged Dean Winchester, Fluff, Gen, Magic, Precious Dean Winchester, vague mentions of Johns poor parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: Dean gets turned into a six-year-old while looking for Christmas decorations and Sam decides to give him the Christmas he never had.It’s pure fluff
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel & Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Series: Christmas Countdown 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575688
Comments: 8
Kudos: 131





	A real Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I also posted this on my tumblr, @schrijverr, so I hope you pop in and say hi!!

“What date is it?” Dean asked Sam, who was reading the most recent paper.

“Already 23 December.” Sam said, “It’s almost Christmas.”

Dean hummed noncommittally and made himself some coffee. San followed him with his eyes and asked: “Are we gonna celebrate?”

Dean shrugged: “It’s not like we ever really did, why bother?”

“Because it’s nice to do something fun in a while.” Sam said.

“And Christmas is fun?” Dean raised a brow, “Dude, I wouldn’t even know how to celebrate Christmas.”

“All the more reason for it.” Sam said as he stood up, “Come on, lets see if this bunker has any decorations.” 

Dean rolled his eyes, but followed Sam to the storage room, coffee still in his hands. 

There Sam was going through boxes. Dean just watched him, but when Sam gave him a bitch face he started randomly lifting lids of some boxes and not really looking inside. Without looking he flipped the lid of a little wooden box, not noticing the sigils carved on it. Inside there was sort of ornament, Dean was about to ask if this was what Sam meant as he picked it up, when a bright light blinded all in the room.

~

Shocked Sam looked back when the bright light shone behind him. When it was over and Sam could see again he had to blink multiple times to make sure he was seeing what he saw, it stayed there. 

Where Dean had just been now stood a small boy, who came up to Sams waist. The boy had chestnut brown hair in a military cut, big scared green eyes and freckles, he was also wearing Deans gray bathrobe and black shirt, by his feet lay a broken coffee cup. Uncertain Sam asked: “Dean?”

With a high wobbly voice the kid responded: “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

Sam bit back a swear and tried to focus on not looking intimidating, which is quite hard when you are a trained fighter who towers over almost everyone. So he crouched down and gently said: “I’m Sam.”

The kid, Dean, frowned and said: “You can’t be Sam, Sam is small, like this big.”

He waved his arm to show how short his Sam was and for a second Sam had a hard time comprehending that he had been that small. He shook himself out of it and tried to come up with an explanation. In the end he said: “Well, I’m not your brother Sam, I’m another Sam. Your dad asked me to look after you while he and Sam went to get your little brother some shots, but it is pretty far and it’s gonna take a few days.”

Dean thought it over and decided that the man in front of him could be trusted. When Sam saw that he relaxed a bit and said: “You have bare feet, so stay still and I’ll get you away from the shards of the coffee cup, yeah.”

Dean nodded and let himself be picked up by Sam. Sam marveled over how light his brother was and decided to get some food into him the moment they knew what was wrong with him. With Dean still in his arms he asked: “Can you point at what you touched?”

He prayed that kid Dean would still know what adult Dean had done. It seemed to be the case as he pointed at a small wooden box. Sam smiled and said: “Good job, buddy. Number 138, good.” 

If he hadn’t been checking the boy for injuries he would have missed how the kid got wide eyes and a blush on his face when he complemented him. Inside he cursed their father for making Dean unused to praise when he obviously deserved it. 

He pushed the thought away as he got to the hallway and put Dean down, he went back in and grabbed the index book as he decided that cleaning up would be a problem for future Sam. 

He steered Dean to the kitchen and stationed him in a chair, after that he flipped through the book and quickly scanned the page about 138. Then he said: “Well, I’m gonna make you some breakfast and call a friend, is that okay?”

Shyly the boy nodded and Sam set to work cracking eggs while he dialed Cas. The angel picked up: “Sam, what’s the matter?”

“So, get this, Dean is a little kid for a week.”

“Is he injured? Is he alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry he’s gonna be fine until he turns back, he just doesn’t remember us, but I need you to pick some things up and come over to the bunker, alright?”

“Of course, what do you need.”

“You are gonna have to write this down, it’s quite a lot.”

“Yeah, wait for a second…. Okay, I’m ready.”

“Some clothes for, let’s say, a five or six year old, some things to do, Christmas decorations, a small Christmas tree, some fun cereal and ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. You got all that?”

“Yes, clothes, stuff to do, decorations and tree, cereal and ingredients.”

“Yup, that’s all. Thank you Cas, see you soon.”

“Goodbye, Sam.”

As Cas hung up, Sam plated the eggs and bacon. He and Dean sat quietly as they ate together, when Deans plate was empty Sam said: “So, my friend is coming over, because it’s almost Christmas. I think you’ll like him, his name is Castiel, but you can call him Cas, yeah?”

Dean nodded, but didn’t say anything, it was getting really weird that he was so quiet. Sam went on: “What do you know about Christmas and Santa?”

Dean said: “Christmas is overrated and Santa isn’t real that is for little kids who need their parents to spoil them, but I’m already a big boy.”

It sounded like he was repeating words, Johns words if Sam had to guess. His heart ached for the kid in front of him, Sam himself had believed in Santa until he was nine, because each year Dean had made sure there would be a present under the tree or by his bed, but it seemed like Dean hadn’t gotten the same treatment. Sam didn’t say any of that, instead he said: “A big boy, wow. Can I ask how old this big boy is?”

Proudly Dean held up his fingers as he exclaimed: “Six!”

Sam pretended to be impressed, then he said in a conspiratorial voice: “If you’re that old already, can I tell you a secret?”

With wide eyes the boy nodded and Sam said: “Santa is real, but he only comes to the kids that really really really believe and have been extremely nice.”

Dean looked like he didn’t believe him and asked: “And how do you know?”

“Well,” Sam lied, “I’ve captured Santa once.”

Deans mouth fell open in shock and he whispered: “Really?”

Sam nodded as he internally decided that he would make Deans Christmas magical, because it was the least he could do. He said: “If you want we can try to capture him together.”

“Ohh, I’d like that!” Dean said, then his face fell and he got timid again, “If it’s not a problem, sir.”

Sam pushed away the flash of anger he felt towards John and gently said: “I would love to try and capture Santa with you and you can just call me Sammy or Sam, no need for sir.”

Dean smiled: “Okay, Sam.”

~

When Cas came Sam and Dean had already picked a perfect spot for the tree, where there was enough room for a trap. Dean was smiling as he asked Sam questions and told him about his baby brother, who was the best really although sometimes quite annoying. Sam smiled at that.

Cas, who was looking at the two, cleared his throat and Dean stopped halfway through his sentence. Cas smiled and said: “Hello, Dean, Sam. I have brought the stuff you requested.”

“That’s great, thank you Cas.” Sam said, while Dean half hid behind him.

Sam turned to look at Dean and said: “Cas is a friend, he’s nice, you can go and say hi.”

Shyly Dean leaned to the side so he could see Cas and said: “Hello, Mister Castiel, it’s nice to meet you.”

Castiel smiled at the name and said: “It is a real pleasure to meet you to, Sir Dean.”

Dean giggled a bit, realized what he did and clamped his hands over his mouth as he looked at Cas with big eyes. Castiel said: “Hey, it’s alright Dean. You can call me just Cas, alright? It’s what friends call me and I would like to be your friend.”

“Okay, Cas.” Dean quietly said, “We can be friends.”

That made Cas smile and soon the two were talking to each other. Dean was excitedly telling Cas about their plans to capture Santa and how epic it was gonna be and how he couldn’t wait to tell Sammy.

Their conversation gave Sam a chance to slip away and go through the bags Cas brought with him. In one there were outfits, really cute miniatures of their everyday attire that Sam couldn’t help but fawn over for a second. In the other bag there were decorations and a box with a fake tree. In the third bag were the groceries and in the last bag were a four toy cars, a coloring book, colored pencils, a ball and a LEGO set.

Sam hid the LEGO set and two of the toy cars, then he put away the groceries and made a call.

“Hi, Moose, need my help again?”

“Hello, Crowley. I need you to do me a favor.”

“Are the lumberjacks in trouble again?”

“No, Dean has been turned into a kid and I need you to be Santa.”

“WHAT?”

“Hear me out, Dean hasn’t had a real Christmas since he was like four or three and with this spell it is perfect to give him one, so I promised him we’d capture Santa together. It’s harmless and he’ll turn back, but if you could take the three presents and put them under the tree that be really cool.”

“And why would I?”

“Because you secretly like us?”

“Think again, Mr. Plaid.”

“Because I’ll owe you one?”

“Hm, sold. Where are the presents hidden?” 

“In the highest kitchen cabinet, behind the beer.”

“Till Christmas then.”

“Till then, thank you, Crowley.”

Then he hung up and grabbed three of the bags and made his way back to Cas and Dean. He said: “Guys, look what I have. Our supplies!”

He held up the bags and Dean cheered. They got him dressed in his outfit and started to set up the trap. They drew a devils trap on the bottom of a big rug, then they set up the tree and when that was done Dean said: “You think he’s gonna fall for it?”

“Almost.” Sam said, “We just need some cookies to set out for him, just to make sure.”

“Are all the cookies gonna be for Santa?” Dean asked.

Sam shook his head and said: “Of course not, silly. We need to make sure they aren’t bad, we don’t want to accidentally poison Santa, now do we?”

With a determined face Dean shook his head and said: “No, we need to protect Santa, by tasting the cookies.”

“That’s the spirit.” Sam told him with a smile.

“Yay, let’s go!” Dean cheered.

“The cookies will be better if they’re fresh.” Castiel cut in, “Why don’t we bake them tomorrow and we can do something else now. I brought some fun stuff.”

“Yeah, do you like coloring?” Sam asked.

Dean nodded and Sam bend down and whispered: “Well, Castiel has never colored, you think you can help him with that?”

Dean nodded fiercely and pulled Cas away. 

Sam sat down next to them and started reading a book. When he looked up Cas and Dean were oblivious to the world around them, both too focused on the coloring book. Dean had his tongue sticking out in concentration and Cas had his brows pinched. Sam smiled to himself and quietly snapped a picture of the pair.

~

That evening Cas and Sam had put Dean to bed in his brand new Batman pajamas which Sam had also captured on his phone. Sam had also finally cleaned the coffee from that morning.

Now they were sitting next to each other in the library and Cas said: “I assume you have a plan so that Santa is actually captured.”

“Yeah, I now owe Crowley one, but it’s gonna be so worth it.” Sam replied.

“So, the cars and LEGO I didn’t see…” Cas said.

“I hid them to give Dean later, yeah.” Sam finished the sentence.

“You have a big heart, Sam.” Castiel told him, “What you’re doing for Dean is very kind.”

“Well, don’t just give me the credit.” Sam said, “You’re helping just as much and Dean really seems to like you.”

“I am glad he does. It would have been strange otherwise.” Castiel said.

Sam smiled and got up. He stretched and said: “I have a feeling we’re going to be woken up early by an excited kid, so I’m gonna turn in early as well so that I at least get a bit of sleep.”

“Good plan.” Castiel said, “Good night Sam.”

“Goodnight Cas.”

~

Sam was right, because at 6 o’clock that morning there was a knock on his door and he heard Deans voice through the door: “Sam, sorry to wake you, but it’s already morning and Cas told me I could wake you up, so we could start today.”

Sam grunted and called: “I’ll be out in a minute, Dean, why don’t you and Cas go set the table for breakfast and tell Cas to make coffee.”

“Okay.” Dean chirped and Sam could hear his little feet run through the hallway. Sam shook his head fondly and started getting dressed.

In the kitchen there was coffee waiting for him and Dean was already sitting at the table still in his pajamas, while Cas was getting the cereal and milk for him. Sam got a smoothie out the fridge and basked in the fact that Dean wouldn’t complain about his healthy stuff for a change.

After breakfast Dean got dressed as well and played with his other two toy cars, from what Sam could understand from Deans sound effects, it was an epic car chase with a lot of explosions.

Around noon that day Dean had decided that the time for cookies had come, so after a quick lunch they set up shop in the kitchen. Sam read the recipe out loud: “Okay, so we need 290 grams of flour.”

Dutifully Castiel opened the flour, but in the process said flour mushroomed and when he looked back at them he had white eyebrows and dusty hair. Sam smirked and Dean giggled. Cas faked a frown and dipped his finger in the flour to give Dean white stripes on his cheeks, which send the boy back into a fit of giggles. Sam switched from the recipe on his phone to the camera to capture the moment, Dean noticed and grinned widely into the camera while giving it a thumbs-up.

The rest of the afternoon went kind of the same and at the end of their baking adventure Sam had chocolate on his cheek and sugar in his hair, while Castiel still had his white eyebrows and dusty hair along with some batter on his chin and Dean, well, Dean still had his flour war-stripes, chocolate on his nose and batter on his little forehead.

All were grinning and there was a pleasant atmosphere in the room. Sam made the three of them take a selfie with their ingredient make-up, much to the wonder of Dean, who had never seen anything like the tech Sam had in his current form. That led to an impromptu tech lesson, which the small boy paid close attention to, Sam had forgotten that just because Dean didn’t keep up that much he still was a nerdy tech dork by heart who could built EMF meters from scratch.

They set the cookies down to cool and went on with their lives. Sam and Dean had explained to Cas the rules of soccer and they had a small match in hallways of the bunker.

That night Dean had been the most excited he had ever been since, really since Sam had known him, he was bouncing off the walls and yelling excitedly about their trap and Santa. Castiel leaned over towards Sam and discretely said: “Do you think it’s the sugar or just the adrenaline?”

Sam gave him a bitch face and sourly said: “Definitively the sugar, I told you to not let him eat too many cookies. Ten is too many cookies!”

“Easy for you to say, Sam.” Castiel defended himself, “You weren’t the one who had to say no to him and how I could I know how much is too much.”

“Just, ugh. Never mind.” Sam sighed.

At that point Dean came running at them and skidded to a halt. He asked: “Do we know at what time Santa is coming? Or can that be anytime? Could it be now? Is Santa already working at this point? When does he start working?”

“Dean, Dean, stop, you still have to breathe, buddy.” Sam laughed.

Deans little chest heaved as he looked at them with bright eyes, waiting for answers. Sam said: “Santa only works when everyone is sleeping that’s why we set up the alarm, remember? So we know when he is here.”

Dean nodded and said: “So if I sleep he will come?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Sam said, feeling quite proud of coming up with that to get Dean into bed.

Dean immediately exclaimed: “Then I have to get ready for bed!”

“I’m sure Cas won’t mind to help you brush your teeth and when you’re done we check the trap one more time and then it’s off to sleep. Deal?” Sam said.

“Deal.” Dean said with a firm nod.

Then he was telling Castiel to hurry up and help him, because he had to go to bed if he wanted Santa to come. As he watched his brother and Cas leave Sam smiled to himself, these days of just having fun were well deserved.

After a few minutes of rest Dean came running back into the room. Together they checked all the components of their trap, the demon trap on the bottom, the cookies and note that said For Santa as bait and the trip wire meant to set of the bells to wake them up. All was in order, but Sam didn’t let Dean go to bed yet, first he forced Cas to take a picture of the both of them with their trap, claiming that it was necessary for it to work, but in all honesty he just wanted a picture of them together and smiling.

~

At 3 o’clock on Christmas Night you could hear all through the house the sounds of bell jingling and a very loud: “MOOOOSE!”

Sam shot up in his bed, confused for a few seconds until he realized what had happened, before he could get out of bed the door swung open and a small figure came flying at him. It was Dean who yelled: “Did you hear that? We’ve captured Santa!!”

He was clapping in his hands and jumping up and down. From down the hall Cas came to meet them and together the three of them made their way to the tree. Sam was glad he had left a small explanation under the tree, so Crowley would have the same story as they had told Dean. 

When they first saw him Sam didn’t recognize him, but it was actual Crowley, he hadn’t possessed a poor mall-Santa, but he had dressed his usual vessel up as Santa. Sam almost burst out laughing, but managed to keep it in. He greeted him with a nod: “Santa.”

Besides him Dean looked at Crowley with wide eyes of wonder and shock, he turned to Sam and said: “He came. I thought he might not, because I haven’t been really good, but he came.”

Sam smiled gently and said: “Well, apparently Santa doesn’t agree with that, because he did come. See?”

Sam gestured to Crowley who rolled his eyes, but dutifully said: “Ho ho ho, what a pleasant surprise I find here, Dean, a trap.”

Dean blushed and said: “I’m sorry, Mr. Santa, sir. I- uh.”

“It’s okay.” Crowley said, “I’m more impressed than angry really. It’s been a long time since that happened.”

“Really?” Dean asked.

“Yup, it was that Moose over there who did it. I assume he helped you pull it off?” Crowley said, he was playing along and Sam was kind of surprised, but when Dean gasped in surprise and excitement Sam heard Crowley whisper: “Gosh, he really is small.”

He looked over to Cas who nodded and grabbed his own phone and snapped a picture of “Santa” and little Dean. When he was done he gave Sam a thumbs-up, mission complete. Sam nodded that he understood and focused back on the conversation between Crowley and Dean. Crowley was just saying: “No, I don’t work alone. I have a lot of helpers, I only visit the kids that have been extremely good.”

“And you came here?” Dean said.

“Yes, that I did.” Crowley answered, “But I can’t stay here forever. I need to visit other kids as well and you wouldn’t want me to miss them, right?”

“No, no, I’ll ask Sam to set you free.” Dean quickly said, “Thank you for visiting, Mr. Santa.”

Meanwhile Sam was already working on breaking the circle so that Crowley could get out. When he was done Crowley turned to Dean and said: “Thank you for the cookies and wait with opening your presents till the morning, yeah.”

Then the demon disappeared, leaving an amazed Dean behind. 

They stayed up until 4 in the morning listening to Dean ramble on about how cool it had been and how Sammy wasn’t gonna believe his ears when Dean would tell him. But in the end the excitement wore off and exhaustion took it’s place, so when Dean fell asleep again Sam carried him off to bed.

~

“Sam! Sam! Sam!” Sam was awoken by a yelling Dean who was jumping on his bed. 

“I’m awake, I’m awake.” he said.

Dean said: “Come on. Santa said I could open my presents in the morning, but Cas said I wasn’t allowed to open them without you, so you have to come!”

Sam let himself get pulled out of bed by the excited kid and dragged down the hall. Cas was already waiting next to the tree, he was wearing sweatpants and a simple T-shirt just like Sam and together they watched a batman pajamas clad Dean rip open his three presents. 

With each car he unwrapped he let out a squeal and ramblingly explained to them how they would fit into his ongoing car heist story and when he unwrapped the batman LEGO set his spirit couldn’t broken. On the floor in the library Cas and Dean put together Arkham Asylum with a bowl of cereal next to them.

Sam sat on the side and smiled softly at the two and snapped another picture. He usually wasn’t much of a picture person, but their youths hadn’t been captured. They never had home videos or a baby photo album, pictures of their younger years were rare and now he had a chance to have that thing they never had, so he grabbed the chance.

The days after that were peaceful and fun. They built a snowman and attacked Castiel with snowballs, had warm coca with marshmallows and whipped cream, made up a whole story with the LEGOs and snapped a load of pictures. 

Then on the 30th it was over, Dean turned back. At first he didn’t say anything, but after a second of silence he pulled Sam and Cas into a hug and with a choked off voice he said: “Thank you, both of you.”

Then he walked off and it was never spoken off again. The toys and clothes disappeared into a box and the Christmas decorations into a storage room, but if a few framed pictures of that fateful week made it onto the walls and into Sams room, well then no one had to comment on that.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that in cannon Dean does want to celebrate Christmas, but yolo XP
> 
> Also happy holidays everyone!! <3


End file.
